<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Someone Like You by melancholy_scorpio1</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29461800">Someone Like You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/melancholy_scorpio1/pseuds/melancholy_scorpio1'>melancholy_scorpio1</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>American (US) Actor RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Mental Health Issues, Poor Life Choices, Reader has been to rehab, Rehabilitation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:14:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29461800</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/melancholy_scorpio1/pseuds/melancholy_scorpio1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>(Originally requested on Tumblr) R is an actress with a bad reputation but she’s gotten her act together and is back on track. She’s been dating Timothée for a while but she has not wanted to go public because she’s worried about how dating “someone like her” will do to his reputation?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Timothée Chalamet/Reader, Timothée Chalamet/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Someone Like You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>      The candles are lit; the champagne is on ice; the meal you cooked from scratch is in the oven, nearly done; everything is perfect. A record plays in the corner, the one that Timothée bought for Valentine’s Day, and you’re dressed to the nines in the prettiest dress you had in your wardrobe. Freshly showered, the scent of your body lotion lingers in every room. </p><p>You wouldn’t usually make such an effort. Well, you would if you were going out with him to a restaurant or something, but usually when he comes over you wouldn’t bother getting dressed up or doing anything special. But it’s a special night - Your one year anniversary. </p><p>It hasn’t been the easiest year, either. Considering it’s only the two of you who know about your relationship - not even your parents know - it’s been proving quite difficult to spend any time with each other. With the tabloids so close to Timothée, especially before and after a movie, sometimes you’ve been months without seeing each other even though you only live down the road from him. </p><p>What’s worse is that it’s all your fault. At the same time as being quite young, your acting career took off when you were in your teens, becoming famous from a globally-watched TV show. Since then, for almost ten years, it’s been ‘Cameras! Lights! Action!’ with you not even able to leave your house without being spotted. Early on in your fame, when life seemed to pass in a blur and everything you did seemed to have no consequence. For a while, you were well-known for being a party animal; drinking, drugs and dancing were a common occurrence. Every night was a party. Most of the time you turned up high to auditions, and most of the time directors expected it of you. You were well known for being difficult and occasionally violent on set; you were an embarrassment at award shows. </p><p>It was an award show that sent you to rehab. You were up for an Academy Award for Best Actress, something that should have brought such pride and happiness to the people who cared about you. You had a plus one, which you offered your best friend; they turned it down, unable to keep up with your bad habits and not willing to be subject to your embarrassing antics. Constantly arguing with your parents, they told you they wouldn’t talk to you until you sorted yourself out - Despite how hard it would be for them to stay away. Your siblings told the paparazzi they didn’t know you, despite sharing the same last name. </p><p>At the same time, you were on the brink of being dropped from your agency; directors and producers wanted you in their movies, but couldn’t find it in them to deal with your behaviour. The drugs and alcohol that once made you so happy only made you feel bad about yourself, and your mental health was on a rollercoaster permanently going down. It felt like you had nothing to live for. </p><p>So you checked into rehab. You weren’t necessarily addicted to drugs and alcohol, but you needed that nudge to get you off them. After two months, you were a new person - You fixed the relationships that had been broken by poor life choices. You ridded yourself of the bad people in your life and replaced them with good people that made you happy. You worked on your image - directly, through interviews and such, and indirectly, taking part in charitable projects for both your mental wellbeing and your public image. </p><p>Yet you are still tarred by who you once were. Directors and producers are still reluctant to work with you, although you have a book movie in the pipeline for next year. Sometimes it feels like you were left at Bad Person Train Station, after getting off the Party Animal train; now, no matter how hard you try, you’re not allowed back on the Normal Person carriage. </p><p>Timothée is your ray of sunshine on a cloudy day; he contacted you through social media, and you hit it off instantly. A met up at a cafe he considered a first date, you were reluctant; you didn’t want to get him involved with your mess. Yet he was kind to you, showing you care when the acting world was being nothing but hostile. He got you on track. He found work for you, put in a good word for you when others were skeptical. You owed him everything. Your relationship kindled without either of you realising, until one day you ended making out on his sofa. </p><p>Fast forward a year later, and the relationship is going strong despite rarely seeing each other in person, at your request. His reputation as a good person, a fantastic actor, is too much to lose for a relationship tainted with your bad decisions. </p><p>He’s ten minutes late in typical Timothée fashion, and he’s breathless when he bursts through the door. “Sorry love!” You’re in the kitchen we he does, checking on the food cooked to perfection; he comes behind you, pecking your cheek sweetly. “I was being followed.” </p><p>“Don’t worry,” The food can wait for a minute, deciding to turn and kiss him properly, on the lips this time. He tastes of cigarettes and reminds you of home, his embrace keeping you safe and close to him. “I’ve missed you.” He even smells like you remember, and with your face buried in his shoulder you could stay there forever and never complain. </p><p>“I’ve missed you too.”</p><p>It’s not an ideal relationship. It’s unconventional, with the occasional meet up and most conversations through the phone,  one of compromise and complete trust, but it’s perfect to you; you wouldn’t change it for the world. </p><p>“Come on, best eat before it goes cold,” You wish you could stay there forever, but a lot of time and effort went into making the dinner and you refuse to let it go to waste. </p><p>Nothing has changed; it’s like the two of you have never been apart. You haven’t, really; physically, you haven’t been near him for two months, but you’ve spoken to him over the phone nearly every day. He has the ability to make all your troubles, simple or complex, melt away with just one conversation. </p><p>Once he’s finished, compliments of how lovely the food was on his lips, he reaches over the table to take your hand in his. He looks sheepish, nervous, chewing on his bottom lip with a far away look in his eyes - You fidget under his stare, the smallest amount of anxiety settling in your stomach. He looks about to say something, like he’s mulling over the words in his had before he says it. </p><p>“I want us to go public.” </p><p>There’s only a few sentences that could make you close up like that one. I cheated on you or I’m in love with someone else or I think we should break up. The butterflies in your stomach turn to lead, as it begins to churn - are you going to be sick? You start to feel clammy, is it hot in here? Is your breathing always so laboured? Is your mouth always so dry?</p><p>“You what?” It’s spoken in such a soft way, but it’s all you can muster. </p><p>He has a reputation to uphold; he’s a good person. He’s too good for you. You know you’re punching way above your weight, you know you’ve struck gold with him; you’re a bad person. You’ll ruin his life, his career, if you’re seen to be with him. </p><p>“I want people to know we’re dating.” The second time he says it isn’t received any differently. On shaky legs, you stand from the table, grabbing your plate and scraping at the floor with your chair in the process. You reach over to his plate and almost drop the one you are already holding, unable to keep your shaking hands steady. “Y/N -”</p><p>“I should tidy this up, do you want to pick a film? You know where they are by now.” He follows you into the kitchen, and you realise the conversation isn’t over. </p><p>“I know why you wanted to keep it between us in the first place, but it’s been a year. I want to be able to tell my parents about you, to talk about you to my sister, to not have to lie to my friends every time they ask me if I’m seeing anyone.” Focus on the dishes and you’ll be fine. “I want to be able to show you off in front of the cameras, to kiss you whenever and wherever I want to. Why does it have to be one big secret?”</p><p>“You don’t need me to answer that question,” You keep your back to him, you don’t want to see his face right now. How could he? </p><p>No. You understand every word he is saying loud and clear. It’s so stupid that you can’t do all those things. It’s so stupid that he has to lie, to sneak around, just because of you. He shouldn’t have to do that. </p><p>“I want us to be together, a proper couple. I don’t want to have to sneak around all the time,” Your hand slips, and the plate you were holding clatters onto the countertop - Luckily, not smashing. </p><p>“I’m sorry Tim, but I can’t,” You don’t mean to snap at him, he doesn’t deserve that. What he’s asking for is perfectly normal, but you can’t give that to him. </p><p>“Baby, look at me. Please,” You don’t want to, you can’t. He’s going to leave you. “Y/N,” A gentle grip on your wrist, he turns your body in your direction. His hand moves from your wrist to your hand, with the other nudging your head up to meet his eyes. Beautiful. “I want to be able to tell people I love you.” </p><p>A momentary distraction from what he was asking to do, coming in the form of those three words you’d never heard him say to you before. He loves you. It must be some sort of trick, how could he love you? But he seems genuine. He seems to mean it. Why wouldn’t he? </p><p>“You love me?” The ghost of a smile on his lips, he nods once. “Really?” </p><p>“I promise.” </p><p>Your lips are on his in an instant, passionate and loving, breathtaking. His arms find their way around your waist, tugging you closer to him, while yours thread through his hair. It’s a rush of love and care, encouragement and hope, the perfect balance of gentle and rough, and you’re dizzy when he pulls away. </p><p>“I love you too. And I want all that, as well but I just… I’m scared of how it’s going to affect you.”</p><p>He rests his forehead against yours sweetly; you get lost in his eyes for a minute, the weight of the world fades into the background and it’s just you and him. You and him against the world.</p><p>“Whatever happens. Whatever people say, whatever people think we should do, whether you’re the best or worst person in the world. I love you. That will never change.” </p><p>The following day, after a night you won’t be forgetting for a long time, he FaceTimes his parents and introduces them to you. It’s awkward at first - they seem to be annoyed that he didn’t tell them about you sooner. Honesty is the best policy, you’ve always been taught; you haven’t had the best past, hence your reluctance to go public, you didn’t want to impact Tim’s career. But I love her, she’s the most wonderful person I’ve ever met and her past is behind her now. </p><p>After that, it’s like they’ve known you all your life. They ask about how you met him, they share stories of how sweet he used to be as a boy, and insist on showing you photo albums when you’re able to visit them in person. They laugh with you, ask questions to figure out who you are, and by the end of the call you wonder what you had to worry about in the first place. </p><p>His family was the first step - the rest of the world is the second. He barely posts on Instagram, but when he does they’re quite big; you take photos all over the house, from the sofa, to the dining table, a bathroom mirror selfie to the balcony. You both agree on your favourite, with you lying against him on your sofa, face hidden in his neck. It’s obvious it’s you - it couldn’t be many other people. He simply leaves a red heart emoji beneath it, that says enough. </p><p>His phone explodes with notifications as soon as he posts it, and when he tries to open the app it freezes and shuts down. From what you see on his lockscreen they are saying good things; there’s the odd negative comment, the odd insult, but that would have happened whether you had your bad past or not. </p><p>It only brings the two of you closer, and you didn’t think that was possible. It was worth it. Of course it was. </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>